Nathaniel Crosby knows Seminole Golf Club as well as maybe anyone. Crosby, who is about to embark on his second Walker Cup captaincy for the 2021 matches at Seminole, has been playing the course since he was a teenager.
When Crosby was an undergraduate at the University of Miami in the early 1980s, he made sure to use each of his allotted 25 rounds per year as a guest at Seminole. When he later became a member in the early 1990s, he stopped having to worry about that.
Crosby, 58, is enjoying something of a quiet year. After leading the U.S. Walker Cup team to victory at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England last fall, he is about to ramp it up again in preparation for the 2021 matches. Crosby’s initial captaincy took him all over the country scouting out the next generation of golf talent. That group included Matthew Wolff, who turned professional before having a chance to represent the U.S.
Wolff will partner with Rickie Fowler in Sunday’s TaylorMade Driving Relief charity event and take on the team of Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson in a best-ball event designed to raise money for COVID-19. It will be a significant day for golf fans as Seminole, arguably one of the world’s best courses, appears on TV for the first time.
Related: Think the sides are mismatched for this weekend’s TaylorMade charity event? Think again
Crosby revealed he’s just as excited as the rest of us to see how the club translates on the broadcast. We caught up with Crosby to hear an insider’s take on what kind of game it takes to be successful there, and how he’s preparing for the upcoming Walker Cup matches. Excerpts from that conversation appear below, starting with Crosby’s own game and how many Seminole member-guests he’s played.
Is your name in the locker room? Do you own a title?
I won the very first one I played. In 1979 as a guest with Doc Hoover, who was a frequent playing partner of Ben Hogan’s and everyone’s favorite orthopedic in town. I won in 1979 so what I like to say is I’m just trying to play through a 40-year slump right now.
When did you first see Seminole? What was your first impression?
It was great. I played four days in a row in 1976 with George Coleman and my dad and a great family friend. . . . As a 14-year-old, I shot 76 in a pretty good wind and George Coleman was so impressed with that, he said, “I’ll bet you if we play three more times…,” I said, “I’ll beat that.” And I shot between 75 and 77 the next three days and Coleman won $20 from me.
What kind of game do you need to be successful at Seminole?
Angles really is the trick to Seminole. I probably played as much as anybody – I haven’t played as much as some people in the last few years – from a longevity standpoint and seeing the course play differently.
In the 70s and 80s, the course was much softer, the greens were more receptive. The greens probably were much slower than they are today. The course is a lot of fun to shoot at the pins because you could put the pin in the corner of any of these greens and if you shot at the pin, you get rewarded if you pull off a great shot. Now it’s a battle of survival because the greens are so firm and so fast, if you’re not careful shooting at the pin is almost a non-issue because the greens get so short front to back in the sides of the green. If you don’t hit toward the center of the green, there’s no depth to the greens. Very, very difficult for anybody who doesn’t hit it down an elevator shaft, like so many of these golf pros do now that are doing so well. The ball descends like a parachute and it’s just very hard to shoot at a pin without a really high-arching shot. The green speeds and the green firmness is really what makes it a difficult challenge at this point.
What do you think about the idea that the public is going to see Seminole on TV for the first time? Are you surprised about this TV debut, or is it something you think is overdue?
I’m excited about it. It’s been a mystery. The golf course is a phenomenally, perfectly designed golf course. Steve Smyers has said that and used that line. It’s such a great design and there’s just so much detail on it. I think (club president) Jimmy Dunne, by accepting the Walker Cup and encouraging and getting this match to be played there, I think he wants Seminole to get some exposure. I don’t think anybody is upset about it. I think everybody is excited to have those kind of players play out there in a match. The club has got incredible mystery because of the people who have belonged there for several generations. It’s been the banking elite and industry leaders and then a few old champions thrown in the mix. … I think that’s the lure of Seminole as well as the design and the continued high rankings.
I’m anxious to see what it will look like on TV. I’m very anxious to see it.
How did it work getting an encore Walker Cup captaincy? Was that something you requested – or at least expressed interest in – or how was that presented to you?
It’s been the privilege of a lifetime to be picked. Especially the experience that I had, I had an incredible getting-to-know-you term with following all the players and following certain players that eventually all made the team. Andy Ogletree was the only one of the 10 that I hadn’t followed intently. Andy has an incredible game and is a tremendously worthy U.S. Amateur champion. He bumped one player that I had really been pushing for.
I think the whole experience of following the players, scouting them, going through the selection process with the USGA. I know certain captains in the past, it hasn’t been perfect. For me, it was absolutely perfect. Coming from behind and having an epic week in Liverpool where I played 36 years ago was a too-good-to-be-true scenario. I think six Walker Cup captains have been picked twice in a row. I think it’s been kind of a pattern from the USGA all the way back to the late 80s, I think they picked two in a row.
I did kind of expect it. You never count on it. You hope, and that has been their pattern the last few years. It’s nothing you solicit. You don’t ask for the dance. You’re waiting by the phone.
In terms of your history at Royal Liverpool, your familiarity with Seminole, the U.S. really could not have designed a better captain these past two years. What a way for that to work out to get to have your repeat performance at this place you know so well.
I’m enjoying the time I’m spending getting to know the next generation. The biggest privilege of all is having the next generation of stars, let’s say 50 or 60 or 70 percent of these guys are going to make it and have successful PGA Tour careers. There are some that will zero out. For me, to have these guys give a hoot or look up to what I did 40 years ago, it’s not often in this world you get to take a bow for something you did 40 years ago. The USGA is incredibly kind to let former amateur champions, former mid-amateurs and other great amateurs represent amateur golf and captain the Walker Cup team because it is such a privilege to get to know these upcoming stars and their families.
If you had to pick an early winner in this weekend’s charity match at Seminole, which team would it be?
Moot on that. But I might have to pull for my neighbor Rory because he lives directly next door to me. I have to have a little sentimental interest in Rory on this. Rickie, by the way, was unbelievable during the practice squad. He spent a couple hours with the guys at a Walker Cup reunion event and couldn’t have been nicer to spend time with each and every one of the prospects, which was 16 players.
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